Yet another routine day in Test cricket at home for Virat Kohli as he pranced to another double hundred. If one comes to think of it, in the last 17 months, Kohli has gone from no double tons to six of them now, with the numbers 5 and 6 coming through in consecutive innings. As the Indian captain stepped out to bat on an overnight score of 156 on Sunday (December 3), the only element that kept everyone interested was a prospective double and he didn't disappoint the thousands who had stepped out of their homes on a chilly Delhi winter morning.
Rohit Sharma, who will lead the side in the ODIs against Sri Lanka, strengthened his case further in the longer format with his second fifty-plus score in back-to-back Tests. Although, Rohit got out at the stroke of Lunch, the hosts still went into the break with all the momentum and the scorecard reading 500 for 5.
Sri Lanka didn't come out with the second new ball, hoping that Dilruwan Perera and Lakshan Sandakan would pile on the pressure. However, after three tidy overs, Rohit went after the chinaman bowler, hitting him for fours and sixes comfortably. And just as the second new ball was taken, the Indian skipper flicked the first ball away for a finely timed four.
There were a few loose shots from the duo as Suranga Lakmal and Lahiru Gamage produced outside edges on the drive. But once Kohli went past that lapse in concentration, he found his mojo again to force the offspinner back into action. Gamage, though, continued for a little longer but without any real success. After a futile review against Kohli on 195, the Indian skipper went on to post his sixth double hundred in Tests in the following over, to become only the sixth man to reach the magical triple-figures in successive Test innings and only the second Indian after Vinod Kambli. With three of them in a calendar year and most as a captain, Kohli ensured India's total touched the 500-run mark without any hassles.
Rohit smashed his second six of the morning to bring up his eighth fifty but anti-climactically, he edged an attempted cut off Sandakan to be dismissed right at the brink of Lunch. However, that should have little impact on the hosts with the scoreline reading a daunting 500 already.
Brief Scores: India 500/5 (Virat Kohli 225*, Murali Vijay 155; Lakshan Sandakan 3-148) vs Sri Lanka.
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